The Mystics (1968), Sketch

10"14" sketch edition

The Mystics is a lithograph with two scholars researching the Kabballah (qabalah). Kabbalah is a school and discipline of thought in Jewish mysticism. A traditional Kabbalist (Ezekiel Schary) is called a Mekubbal. Both my uncle and father were deeply rooted in Kabbalah.

Jewish Kabbalah is a set of esoteric teachings that explains the relationship between the unchanging, external god - the mysterious Ein Sof - and the mortal, finite universe.

The idea for the lithographs of the Mystics was drawn many years before the Lithograph was released. I am excited to share the original drawing from a sketchbook from the early 1960’s. It was titled ”Study for Litho - the Mystics”.

As an artist, my father was very disciplined and worked at his own pace. He was slow, methodical, and not prolific. He enjoyed his time alone in his studio but shared it, listening to music and baseball games. Time was scarce as he always had a project on his work table; more he thought about, many he wrote notes of in his diary and drawing pads filled with sketches.